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What About the Children's Money?

By Joanne Ross Wilder

Custodial accounts established for the parties' children during the marriage can constitute significant assets. But whose money is it, and how can it be used? Some parents view the custodial accounts as a convenient way to make up a shortfall in the income available to meet support payments and property settlement obligations. Because the unilateral expenditure of children's funds is almost guaranteed to generate a new series of disputes between the parties, it can be helpful for the lawyer to discuss the children's money with the client, emphasizing what can – and cannot – be done with it.

The Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) and its predecessor, the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act, was intended to provide a convenient procedure for making inter vivos gifts of money or securities to children without the complex and expensive requirements of establishing and maintaining trusts. The statutory procedure makes it possible to transfer money and stock to children easily, and is particularly appropriate for relatively small amounts. Every state has enacted a version of the Act providing for transfers to minors. The fact that, in most states, the custodian may be the donor as well as a parent contributes to the confusion over what the custodian can actually do with the minor's funds.

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